Notre Dame linebacker Jaylen Sneed announces he's returning for fifth season

The Notre Dame linebacker contingent is doing the same as Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman — running it back.

Freeman sent out a social media post on Monday, Dec. 29, announcing he would be back in South Bend for the 2026 season. Later that week, linebacker Drayk Bowen made it publicly clear he wasn’t going anywhere either.

Tuesday, it was Jaylen Sneed‘s turn.

Sneed is staying put for a fifth season at Notre Dame.

Sneed made his announcement with a reel of his own highlights playing with the song “You Dropped A Bomb On Me” by The Gap Band playing in the background. Sneed’s nickname is “Nuke.” The caption of the post was, “leave no doubt..last ride” with a Shamrock emoji.

Sneed has 107 total tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks to go along with 4 forced fumbles and a fumble recovery for a touchdown in 45 games with the Irish. He’s played in every single one of Notre Dame’s games over the last three seasons.

A crown jewell of Notre Dame’s recruiting class of 2022, Sneed came in as the No. 35 overall prospect and the No. 3 linebacker in his class. He redshirted as a true freshman but has been a staple for the Irish defense the last three years. In all, Sneed has made over 1,000 appearances in a defensive capacity, per Pro Football Focus, with nearly half of his career snap total coming during Notre Dame’s 2024 run to the national championship game.

That year, Sneed logged 433 defensive snaps and recorded the highest single-season PFF grade of his career with a mark of 70.8. This past season, playing 313 defensive snaps in 12 games, Sneed was just shy of his career-high figure with a grade of 70.2.

As much as Sneed has accomplished at Notre Dame, he’s still only made 11 career starts. The Irish relied on Bowen and Jaiden Ausberry as their most regular starting linebackers in 2025 with Sneed coming off the sideline along with Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa. The way it’s shaping up in 2026, it’ll be those four who play the most for the Irish in the middle of the defense. Viliamu-Asa, though, will be coming back from a knee injury that ended his sophomore season this past November.

It will be interesting to see if new Notre Dame linebackers coach Al Washington, who used to coach the Irish defensive line, has anything different in store for Sneed in his last year of eligibility. Sneed is used fairly regularly off the edge, too, so whatever he’s asked to do in 2026, Washington and new Notre Dame defensive line coach Charlie Partridge will have a say in it.

And Sneed will have a say in how good the Irish defense will be as a whole. He’s always been an X-Factor in that regard. When Sneed’s on his A-Game, the Irish are a different defense.